The tablet and smartphone race is one that's been long drawn, and both Samsung and Apple are probably the oldest players in this game. In fact, the race to the top has been so long drawn that it has even involved both the companies in lengthy lawsuits related to stolen patents - that has, of course, resulted in both the companies being banned in several different parts of the planet.

Nonetheless, nothing so far has changed and both the companies are still out there developing and manufacturing several different smartphones and tablets that have attracted a lot of customers. The latest among them being Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 and the iPad Air made by Apple.

And, as it seems, since the tablet wars are around the corner with both Samsung and Apple pumping up to solidify their claims once again in the tablet market as the alpha male of the group over others, everything eventually will depend on customers as to what they opt to buy.

But if you are confused between the devices and their specifications, let's take a closer look at what each of them have to offer.

Operating SystemWhile the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 runs on Google's latest Android KitKat operating system, the iPad Air runs on the iOS 7.0.4 operating system. So there's not much to choose from in that respect.

And as far as device dimensions are concerned, The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 comes with 295.6 x 204 x 8 mm dimensions and is a bit heavy, weighing in at 753 grams. The iPad Air, on the other hand, comes with 240 x 169.5 x 7.5 mm dimensions and weighs in at a much lesser 469 grams.

CameraThe Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 sports a 8-megapixel primary camera, sporting a pixel resolution of 3264x2448 pixels, with autofocus and LED flash. The device also has a secondary 2-megapixel camera on board that's more than enough for conducting video chats.

The iPad Air, in terms of camera, has a lesser presence by sporting a 5-megapixel primary camera with autofocus. The secondary camera on the device is a 1.2-megapixel shooter.

Processing PowerIn terms of power generated, both the devices, more or less, offer powerful hardware specifications that are quite suitable to flawlessly power the devices.

Storage and RAMAs it seems, the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 offers 3GB of RAM while offering the device in 64 GB internal memory variant. Nonetheless, there's still the option to expand the device's memory as an external microSD slot, which supports up to another 64 GB, has been provided.

The iPad Air, in this respect, also offers 1GB of DDR3 RAM and comes in 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB internal memory variants, although a microSD slot for additional memory is missing.

PriceWhile the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 has been launched in India with a hefty price tag of Rs. 64,900, here are the details about the iPad Air pricing in India:

ConclusionBasically, these are different tablets that take care of different needs. But on an overall, while the 16GB version of the Air looks quite affordable, Samsung's 64k price tag for Galaxy Note Pro will quickly make a number of potential customers look back and go through their choices again.

But if a choice in tabs is indeed needed to be made, the Apple iPad Air (the 16 GB version, of course) could easily take the cake in this race.